Students rally for pedestrian safety after 2 deadly crashes near campus

CINCINNATI — The University of Cincinnati students rallied for safety after two deadly crashes involving pedestrians only months apart near campus.

In September, a driver in a stolen car hit two UC students, killing 18-year-old Cayden Turner of Moraine.

Turner and her roommate were crossing Jefferson Avenue, from east to west, in a marked crosswalk when they were hit by 2014 Honda CR-V whose driver disregarded a red light as the vehicle headed north on Jefferson at high speed, according to the police traffic unit.

Last month, a driver hit and killed 67-year-old Patrick Bolten near campus, according to our news partners at WCPO.

Students told WCPO they have had close calls walking around campus.

>> ‘A parent’s worst nightmare,’ mom says about death of her daughter, a UC student hit by car

“It just snowed, so it was pretty dark out. I was crossing, it was a right on red and the driver didn’t see me, slammed on the brakes and kind of slid a little bit, luckily I didn’t get hit,” student Aaron Tan said.

Some UC students and nearby community members want more don’t to prevent these close calls.

The Devou Good Foundation has been working for years for pedestrian safety improvements.

>> RELATED: UC student from Moraine hit, killed by car; Her roommate is stable, police say

“UC and the city have acknowledged that there’s a problem,” Matt Butler, Devou Good Foundation president said. “They’ve sent the police there to do some extra patrols and they’ve put up some signage.”

But he wants something more permanent.

Cincinnati City Council member Mark Jeffreys agreed. He said some plans are in the works including a traffic study to determine the best pedestrian safety measures to put in place.

“We’ll be looking at things like speed limits, a lot of the tools that we have in the toolbox around pedestrian safety, speed humps, curb extensions and the like,” he said.

WCPO reached out to UC police about current enforcement efforts but has not heard back.

©2023 Cox Media Group